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Deep sea mining not worth the risk – by Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie (Jamaica Gleaner – August 14, 2022)

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/

Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, PhD, is an environmental scientist and the CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust.

Scientists today know more about space than about the deep sea. This ecosystem is the largest on the planet, comprising over 90 per cent of the marine environment. In 1970, the deep sea was declared the ‘Common Heritage of Mankind’ to be preserved for peaceful purposes.

In spite of this recognition, mining this fragile and critically important environment could begin as early as 2023. The impacts of deep sea mining (DSM) have the potential to be devastating and global.

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Despite setbacks, Pebble Mine receives new investment of $12 million – by Katherine Moncure (KBBI.com – August 14, 2022)

https://www.kbbi.org/

In late July, Northern Dynasty Minerals received $12 million from a new, unnamed investor. This would seem to be an unusual time for a big investment, since the proposed Pebble Mine has faced significant setbacks recently.

In May, the EPA issued a proposed determination to prohibit the discharge of mining materials in the waters around the Pebble deposit – a decision that would effectively kill the project if it stands – and the Army Corps of Engineers’ denied Pebble’s permit in 2020. Pebble and Gov. Dunleavy are fighting to have that permit denial reversed.

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Trapped Mexico miners: Setback as water levels rise – by Vanessa Buschschlüter (BBC.com – August 15, 2022)

https://www.bbc.com/

Attempts to rescue 10 men from a flooded mine in Mexico have been delayed after the water levels in three shafts rose suddenly on Sunday. The miners became trapped on 3 August when a wall in a tunnel collapsed and water from an adjacent chamber gushed into the three shafts.

Officials say the water has to drop to a depth of 1.5m (5ft) to allow rescuers to enter the shafts safely. But on Sunday, it suddenly rose again to more than 20m.

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Red Lake miner chops gold resource base by 20 per cent – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – August 10, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Pure Gold hopes it’s figured out Red Lake’s geology with a new mineral resource estimate

Pure Gold Mining is reporting almost 20 per less gold in the ground at its namesake Red Lake mine than what was originally reported more than three years ago.

The Vancouver company released an updated mineral resource estimate showing 2,019,200 million ounces of gold in the indicated and inferred categories, a significant drop from the 2,530,000 ounces posted in February 2019.

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OPINION: The next Land Back battleground will be north of Lake Superior, as Chiefs say no to nuclear waste on their traditional lands – by Tanya Talaga (Globe and Mail – August 11, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Standing up for Indigenous rights, in the face of various governments’ continued abdication of their commitments to treaties and international law, is a fight First Nations will never tire of.

Good thing, because the work is endless. From the militarized RCMP operations in Wet’suwet’en territory in B.C. (concerning the Coastal GasLink pipeline), to the 1492 Land Back Lane land defence in Caledonia, Ont. (a Six Nations-led effort), our peoples are both the original and present-day protectors of the land, consistently light years ahead of any climate-change movement. Sadly, our efforts to protect the environment are rarely recognized until it is too late.

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Miners face supply chain overhaul to meet U.S. EV credit deadline – by Clara Denina (Reuters – August 11, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

Aug 11 (Reuters) – Miners will struggle to expand operations in the United States in record time to meet a deadline for sourcing key minerals domestically or from select countries as set out by a bill likely to be passed on Friday, companies and industry watchers said.

The requirement is part of a sweeping bill that includes climate and clean energy policies and rules on electric vehicle (EV) battery materials such as cobalt, lithium, nickel and graphite. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on the measure Friday.

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Obama ban on coal leasing on public lands reinstated by judge – by Bobby Magill (Bloomberg News – August 12, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg Law) — Coal leasing is temporarily banned once again on public lands after a federal judge on Friday reinstated an Obama-era moratorium.

The ruling reinstates a 2016 order by then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell banning coal leasing on federal lands pending further environmental review because of coal’s contribution to climate change. That order was scrapped in 2017 by Ryan Zinke, the Trump administration’s first Interior secretary.

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NEWS RELEASE: Announcing the Launch of the Critical Minerals Institute for Companies and Experts Focused on Electric Vehicles, Green Energy and Secure Supply Chains (August 14, 2022)

https://investorintel.com/

Toronto, August 14, 2022 – It is with great pleasure that the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI) announces its founding as an international organization for critical mineral companies and professionals designed to address relevant issues relating to the establishment of secure supply chains from mine to manufacturing in not just rare earths but all 50 vitally important critical minerals.

Focused on battery materials and electric vehicles, along with the use of critical minerals for energy and green energy production, CMI Founder Tracy Weslosky explains: “With uncertainties in Russia and China escalating concerns around secure supply chains, governments have been offering sizable incentives for everything from facilitating faster production timelines to advancing extraction technology processes.

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Workers report feeling unsafe at Nevada’s largest gold-mining corporation – by Nick Bowlin and Daniel Rothberg (High Country News – August 15, 2022)

https://www.hcn.org/

In 2019, Barrick Gold Corp and Newmont formed a mega-company that would be managed by Barrick’s executives. The new company, Nevada Gold Mines, now accounts for about 75% of the state’s gold production.

Earlier this year, High Country News and The Nevada Independent published an investigation into Nevada Gold Mines’ outsized influence in northeastern Nevada. With about 7,000 employees and 4,000 contractors, Nevada Gold Mines dominates the economy of that part of the state, operating with enormous influence and little competition.

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Niger government increases stake in Dasa uranium project (World Nuclear News – August 12, 2022)

https://world-nuclear-news.org/

SOMIDA will be 80%-owned by Global Atomic, with the government holding the remainder which includes the 10% of shares mandated for government ownership by Niger’s Mining Code.

The government will be obligated to contribute 10% of all capital and operating costs over the life of the mine. Moussa Souley has been appointed as SOMIDA’s managing director and Robert Parr as Dasa project director.

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Canada missed its first LNG opportunity. Don’t squander a second chance, Enbridge CEO Al Monaco urges – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – August 10, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Enbridge Inc. chief executive Al Monaco believes Canada missed a huge economic opportunity to supply the world with natural gas, when demand for the fuel started to climb.

Now, as Moscow’s war against Ukraine continues and Europe struggles to plug the supply gaps left by sanctions on Russian natural gas, Mr. Monaco says he is optimistic that Canada can help shore up the market.

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Is sustainable mining possible? The EV revolution depends on it. – by Evan Halper (Washington Post – August 11, 2022)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

A proposal for a ‘sustainable mine’ in Minnesota has the backing of Tesla. But will it win over the community?

TAMARACK, Minn. — Electric cars are still rare in this marshy stretch of central Minnesota, where it is more common to pass a flock of wild turkeys on the country roads than a Nissan Leaf.

But the region could have an outsize impact on America’s transition to zero-emission vehicles. Tamarack, sitting atop a treasure trove of metal used to power electric cars, is fast becoming a test case of whether the auto industry can meet this critical climate moment by sourcing colossal amounts of battery materials domestically and sustainably.

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The cost of green energy: The nation’s biggest lithium mine may be going up on a site sacred to Native Americans – by Chloe Atkins and Christine Romo (NBC News – August 11, 2022)

https://www.nbcnews.com/

The huge project on public land, approved by the Trump administration in its final days, has sparked an outcry and a lawsuit, but opposition among Native Americans is not unanimous.

Thacker Pass, a remote valley in the high desert of northern Nevada, will always be sacred for Gary McKinney of the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. He often visits to honor ancestors said to be killed here by U.S. soldiers in 1865. “It’s been a gathering place for our people,” said McKinney, who lives on the Duck Valley Reservation, 100 miles to the east.

McKinney and others are now fighting a new battle over an open-pit mine planned for Thacker Pass, which sits atop a massive lode of lithium. Driven by soaring demand for lithium, which is vital to electric car batteries and renewable energy, a company called Lithium Americas hopes to break ground this year on the biggest lithium mine in the U.S.

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The resurgence of rural Canada – by Philip Cross (Finncial Post – August 12, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

“Rural residents know water, forests and rocks are quintessentially
Canadian and their abundance means they can be exploited for our
collective benefit. Anyone who worries Canada will ever run out of
them has never flown over or driven through the Canadian Shield.”

Crises always have many unexpected side effects. The Second World War edict requiring a 10 per cent reduction in cloth used in women’s bathing suits led to the bikini. One consequence of the COVID pandemic is contradicting the narrative that rural Canada’s economy is in decline and its population is an elderly and vanishing minority.

In their book The Big Shift, Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson wrote that “the countryside everywhere is in decline … its population is thinning, its economy is fragile.” Instead, rural Canada is thriving, as reflected in the Quebec Statistical Institute’s recent 195,000-person downward revision of its 20-year ahead population projection for Montreal and Laval, forecasting a shift to outlying regions as telework grows in popularity.

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Dubreuilville mine builder cashed up to finish Magino open-pit project – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 11, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The bosses at Argonaut Gold seem pleased that construction of the Magino Mine, outside Dubreuilville, is back on track after some inflationary turbulence threw a scare into the Toronto gold company.

In an Aug. 11 webcast in releasing its second quarter results, Argonaut officials said development is progressing well, though next spring’s first gold pour will be delayed by a month.

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